Learning with Bubbles & Gymboree Bubbles Ooodles Winner!!

2012 June 14

by Becky

I’ve been telling everyone and their mother about these great Gymboree Bubble Ooodles that have rocked Ethan’s bubble-blowing world, and now it’s time to give some away to one lucky reader!!! These bubbles are da-bomb.

Or as Ethan would say: “Bu-buules!!!”

First, a little info on WHY these little pockets of air and gas are good learning tools for toddlers:

Bubble activities boost eye-hand coordination and gross motor skills, as well as language development. “Wow, that big bubble is really high up!”.

Plus, they teach lessons about cause and effect. “Blow through the wand gently and watch what happens!”

Questions to ask your toddler while blowing bubbles:

“Is the bubble high in the sky? Is it low by your toes?”

“Where is the bubble? Is it behind you?”

“Can you point to the bubbles?”

“Is the bubble IN your hand?”

“Can you pop the bubbles? Pop! Pop!”

“Is the bubble big or little?”

Of course you will most likely be answering these questions for your toddler until their speech is much more advanced, but it still works!

And, according to this article, toddlers who learn to blow bubbles speak earlier. Lancaster University did a study and found that toddlers who can lick their lips and blow bubbles learn language skills more easily.

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Speaking of language development…

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I read an article on Mommyspeechtherapy.com and found the following tips for using bubbles to promote language development:

Use bubbles to promote eye contact
Engage your child in a fun bubble blowing activity. Watch for the anticipation of more bubbles. Wait for eye contact before you blow more bubbles.

Use bubbles to stimulate your child to make a request
This may be as simple as blowing the bubbles, screwing the lid on tight, and giving them back to your child. Wait to see what they do. If after trying to open the bubbles themselves unsuccessfully, they hand them back to you for help, they have just made a request.

Use bubbles to teach words or signs
When your child hands the bubbles back to you to open you can use this opportunity to teach the word or sign for “open”. Or while blowing bubbles for your child you might pause to see if he asks for “more”. Teach the word or sign for “more”. The words or signs for “again”, “want”, “please”, and “all done” are also great in this situation.

Use bubbles to teach a sound
When your child requests for more bubbles with a sign or gesture try modeling the sound “m” for more, “b” for bubbles, or “p” for Pop!

Use bubbles to teach lip rounding for the sounds “w”, “oo”, and “o”
When your child blows bubbles through a wand watch the shape of their lips. If they are round, great! If they are more on the flat side try squeezing their cheeks forward to get their lips in the right position. If this doesn’t work, try having them wrap their lips around a wide straw (McDonald’s straws work great) that has been cut to about 2? in length. Then, with their lips around the straw have them blow the bubbles through the wand. The straw positions their lips into the correct posture for blowing.

Use bubbles to position and strengthen the tongue correctly for the “k”, “g”, and “ng” sounds
Blowing exercises, such as blowing bubbles, position and strengthen the tongue for sounds produced in the back of the mouth.

Use bubbles to strengthen abdominal muscles for sustained speech
Strong abdominal muscles can help increase sentence length. Work with your child to blow consistently longer streams of bubbles each time you practice.

Pretty cool stuff huh? Who knew something as fun as bubbles could be so educational???

NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO…THE WINNER OF THE BUBBLE KIT IS:

Adrianne and her daughter Cordelia!!!

While this isn’t anything “huge” as far as giveaways go, it’s still really fun and hey, free things are always good, right?! If anyone else is in the market for new baby-entertainment, get this bubble kit at any Gymboree gym or clothing store. You can also get them on Amazon, but you will pay about two to three times more. As for the refills, you can buy those on the Gymboree website.

Thanks to everyone who entered! I appreciate your interest and readership.

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